Fishing Report: May 30, 2014

Friday

May 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM

COASTWIDE - Hazardous seas are forecast for today, and small-craft advisories are in effect through Sunday, making this weekend's ocean-fishing options pretty slim. Forecasts call for 20-knot winds and 8- to 10-foot seas through the weekend.

Bottomfishers must stay within the 30-fathom line to protect yelloweye rockfish. Near-shore jigging should be very good for lingcod and black rockfish when conditions allow. Black, white or red jigs are always good bets.

The marine aggregate limit in Oregon is seven rockfish a day. The lingcod limit is two a day with a 22-inch minimum, and that is separate from the marine aggregate. No cabezon can be kept until July 1.

Clammers will have good morning minus tides today and Saturday, with a minor minus on Sunday. All shellfish harvest is open along the entire Oregon Coast.

COOS BAY - Bottomfish catches have tapered off this week amid poor ocean conditions. When conditions have been good, the vast majority of anglers on charterboats have been catching limits. The chinook salmon bite has been slow largely because the chinook are scattered. When they can get out, anglers likely will stay somewhat close to shore and ply the water anywhere from 50 to 130 feet down.

Crabbing has been poor.

BROOKINGS - The chinook salmon bite picked up this week for anglers trolling just north of the California border, intercepting the first waves of chinook headed north into Oregon. Good catches have been reported about five miles offshore, with trollers working around 100 feet down. Poor ocean conditions this week likely will blow anglers off the water and it might curb northward migration of chinook. Anchovies have worked best.

Excellent fishing for bottomfish has been the norm when anglers are able to get out of port, with big lingcod still a regular part of the catches. This weekend's conditions look very poor for getting over the bar.

GOLD BEACH - Surfperch fishing has slowed amid rough surf and winds, but look for it to pick up again as soon as the conditions improve. It usually takes one or two days after rough surf for the surfperch to return to the breakers. Bottomfishing has been good when anglers can get out.

AGATE - The lake is down a bit to 90 percent full, and the warmwater fishery is really taking over now despite somewhat cooler air temperatures. Crappie, bass and bluegill are becoming active around submerged willows and along the dam. Fish worms, small spinners or crankbaits slowly. Focus on the shallows, particularly in the morning. For trout, wind-drift for holdover trout with worms. No gas motors are allowed. Small electric motors are legal.

APPLEGATE - The lake is fishing well for holdover rainbow trout 10 to 14 inches long, and the lake received another complement of 12,000 legal-sized trout last week. Trolling has been good off points and in the lower section of the reservoir. All the boat ramps are open. The lake is starting to get drawn down, and it was at 8 feet from full and dropping Thursday.

DIAMOND - Fishing is slower than Diamond Lake anglers are used to seeing in late May. Holdover trout are running either 12 to 13 inches or 19 inches long. The fish are gorged on insects, so they are tough to entice with baits. PowerBait is working best, with worms under bobbers second. Vary your depth and get mobile if you're not catching fish every half-hour. Trolling is slow and won't pick up until the water warms some. The limit is eight trout per day longer than 8 inches, but only one can be longer than 20 inches.

EMIGRANT - No new rainbow trout were planted this week, and that has slowed interest in trout fishing. The trout previously planted have moved around in the lower third of the lake. Try small spinners, worms and streamer flies for holdover trout. Bass and bluegill fishing should improve as the water warms. Focus around the submerged willows. The lake has been dropping. It was listed Thursday at 73 percent full.

A standing public-health advisory continues about eating all but trout from the lake because of elevated mercury levels.

EXPO - The pond was not stocked this week with rainbow trout, and that has curbed fishing interest and success. Small Panther Martin spinners, worms and PowerBait have worked well for rainbows there.

FISH - The lake received another 3,500 legal-sized rainbows and 500 larger rainbows in mid-May. Fishing is good for a mix of trout and chinook salmon, mainly around the resort and the Forest Service boat ramp or in the center of the lake. Tiger trout must be released unharmed. Chinook are legally considered trout and can be kept as part of the five-trout daily limit. The chinook are in the 12- to 14-inch range.

HOWARD PRAIRIE - The lake is fishing fairly well for trout with PowerBait. Trollers are using flashers and Triple Teasers with success. Use lures spiced with a piece of worm. Most of the trout are 10 to 14 inches, with another group at 18-plus inches. The lake is listed at 53 percent full and dropping. Most of the still-fishing is in 20 feet of water heading into June. Low water is making fishing from the resort's jetty difficult. Bank fishing around Klum Landing and Grizzly is fair to good, but only the resort ramp and the Klum Landing ramp reach the water. The limit is five trout a day, but only one can be longer than 20 inches.

HYATT - The lake is down to 42 percent full, and that's left the BLM boat ramp unusable for larger boats but OK for cartoppers and other smaller boats. Anglers are not catching lots of fish, but the rainbows are nice and fat. Several 16- to 18-inch fish have been caught by trollers working slowly around submerged trees and in the old creek channel. The limit is five trout a day but only one longer than 20 inches.

LEMOLO - The lake was recently stocked with rainbow trout. Expect good fishing for rainbows and brown trout in exposed waters along the shoreline, and decent kokanee fishing has been reported.

LOST CREEK - Another batch of legal-sized rainbow trout are scheduled for stocking next week in preparation for Free Fishing Weekend on June 7-8. The lake is getting drawn down and was listed Thursday at 2.5 feet shy of full. Slowly troll Wedding Ring or Triple Teaser lures behind flashers, anywhere from 20 to 60 feet down. Wind-drifting worms or small clusters of roe has been good upstream of Peyton Bridge on days when the wind isn't blowing too strongly. Bass fishing should pick up as the reservoir warms.

LAKE of the WOODS - The lake is fishing well for trout from boats and from the bank. Rainbow or chartreuse PowerBait are the most popular offerings for brown trout and rainbow trout, especially near the resort.

WILLOW - The reservoir was listed Thursday as 99 percent full, and it received another 3,500 rainbow trout last month. Fishing from the bank with PowerBait and worms has been good around the resort and directly across from the county boat ramp.

SELMAC - Fishing has been good from the bank with single salmon eggs or PowerBait for legal-sized rainbows stocked there earlier this month. Bass fishing has been picking up as the water warms.

ROGUE - The spring chinook salmon bite in the upper Rogue remains decent to good, and it will get better now that 1,118 spring chinook were recycled Thursday from Cole Rivers Hatchery to the Gold Hill boat ramp for release into the Rogue. The middle Rogue is dead for springers, and the lower Rogue has springers rolling around, but the low and warm water is making catches few and far between.

That puts the best bet on the upper Rogue, and chances are it will stay that way through the remainder of the spring chinook season, the river's most popular fishery.

In the upper Rogue, flows out of Lost Creek Lake were raised 200 cubic feet per second Thursday to 2,200 cfs, with that level expected to remain through the weekend. Though slight, the increase should help get chinook moving and put a little more water in the migration lanes. That's where anglers are more likely to catch fin-clipped hatchery springers, because wild fish are holding more in the traditional holes. Back-bouncing roe with sandshrimp has been best, with straight roe and Kwikfish plugs also working well. Flows at Dodge Bridge were down to about 2,200 cfs Thursday before the increased releases made it to the gauge. Bank anglers casting beads or small Spin-Glo's are catching fish rather consistently at the Hatchery Hole, where complaints about poor angler behavior are increasing. Another 700 springers reached the hatchery collection pond this week.

All wild chinook must be released unharmed until Sunday, when anglers can start keeping wild spring chinook downstream of the Fishers Ferry boat ramp.

Winter steelhead are still sprinkled throughout the upper Rogue, along with the first summer steelhead of the season. In the past two weeks, 18 summers have reached the hatchery. They include some chrome-bright 5-pounders.

The middle Rogue is a dud for spring chinook, with effort nearly nonexistent at Rainie Falls this past weekend.

APPLEGATE - The river is open to trout fishing, and all wild trout must be released unharmed. Fin-clipped trout can be kept, but they are not stocked there.

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